London Northwestern Railway recognised for life saving work

London Northwestern Railway has been recognised for contributing to life saving work across the rail network.

The train operator is part of the Milton Keynes Escalation Team, who won ‘Rail Safety Team of the Year’ at the 2018 Railstaff Awards.

The team is made up of representatives from London Northwestern Railway, Virgin Trains, Network Rail, Samaritans, British Transport Police and Thames Valley Police.

Between July and November 2017, a series of suspected suicides on the rail network in the Milton Keynes area raised cause for concern. The incidents were having a huge impact on the local communities and on the rail industry.

In response to the incidents, a multi-agency group was formed, which has worked together to pursue a range of different actions, including information sharing, community engagement, improving human intervention and promoting help-seeking.

Annamaria Izzard, station manager at Milton Keynes, said: “For every life lost of the railway, six are saved by those around them. These incidents impact many people, so it is vital that we address these issues as an industry, along with our partners. The escalation team at Milton Keynes have made such a difference at the station, so it is fantastic that they have been recognised at the Railstaff awards this year. However, there is still much more to be done. We are committed to driving life saving initiatives forward and to supporting our staff and partners in delivering these.”

Two further members of London Northwestern Railway staff received Highly Commended Awards in other categories.

London Euston dispatcher, Scott Nickels, was awarded Highly Commended in the ‘Rail Person of the Year’ category. Scott has been involved in a number of life-saving interventions, including assisting a passenger who suffered a serious fall down an escalator at the station.

Samantha Wood, station customer service assistant, was awarded Highly Commended in the ‘Samaritans Lifesaver Award’ category. Samantha was recognised for her actions in engaging with a suicidal customer at her station, preventing a potential incident.

ENDS

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About the Railstaff Awards

The Railstaff Awards recognise the work that people do to go the extra mile for colleagues, passengers and the general public. They celebrate the success of individuals and teams and allows the industry to say “thank you” to those who make rail what it is today, from drivers to cleaners, engineers to station staff, back-office administrators to infrastructure maintainers. Staff across the rail industry can nominate colleagues, whether they have saved a life, managed a large-scale project or just done their job particularly well this year, and send us stories of lives saved, careers turned around and adversity conquered. For more information go to railstaffawards.com

About West Midlands Trains

West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.

London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.

West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.

The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.

West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.

The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com

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